Madoff ‘clawback’ suit going after Jewish group helping elderly

(JTA) — The trustee charged with recovering assets lost in Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme is suing the Jewish Association for Services for the Aged for $5.2 million.

The case, Picard v. Jewish Association, was filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York in Manhattan on Oct. 14.

It is one of hundreds of "clawback" lawsuits filed by bankruptcy trustee Irving Picard in order to collect money received from the Ponzi scheme.

The New York-based association received the money, which it believed to be profits, over a six-year period, according to reports.

In a lawsuit filed last month against the owner of the New York Mets to claim back $1 billion received over a six-year period, a judge ruled that Picard could only seek to recover money received in the last two years.

Madoff pleaded guilty in 2009 to fabricating nearly $65 billion in profits to attract investors. He is serving a 150-year sentence at a federal prison in North Carolina.